Summary
Primary human epidermal cell cultures composed of keratinocytes and melanocytes were exposed to supernatants of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated T cells, various lymphokines and interferon-β, and checked for the emergence of HLA-DR antigen using immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. HLA-DR expression was induced by the supernatants and human recombinant interferon-γ (rIFN-γ), whereas recombinant α2, interleukin-2 and non-recombinant human interferon-β had no such effect. The threshold concentration of rIFN-γ required to induce this phenomenon was 10 IU/ml; no further increase of reaction intensity was observed using doses of more than 100 IU/ml. Maximum reaction intensity was achieved after 72 h of incubation; a minimum of 3 h of incubation with rIFN-γ followed by 72 h incubation in rIFN-γ-free medium proved sufficient to induce HLA-DR expression. The inductive effect of the supernatants and rIFN-γ could be completely abrogated by pretreatment with excess doses of the monoclonal antibody GZ4 specific for human IFN-γ. Keratinocytes and melanocytes reacted in an identical fashion both qualitatively and quantitatively in all experiments. These data indicate that IFN-γ possesses specific signal functions in the induction of HLA-DR expression on epidermal cells.
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Abbreviations
- IFN-γ:
-
interferon-γ
- rIFN-γ:
-
recombinant interferon-γ
- r IFN-α2 :
-
recombinant interferon-α2
- nrIFN-β:
-
nonrecombinant interferon-β
- IL-2:
-
interleukin-2
- EC:
-
epidermal cells
- K:
-
keratinocytes
- M:
-
melanocytes
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Auböck, J., Niederwieser, D., Romani, N. et al. Human interferon-γ induces expression of HLA-DR on keratinocytes and melanocytes. Arch Dermatol Res 277, 270–275 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00509079
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00509079